Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.
Psalm 106:1

Millions of people will gather with family and friends on Thanksgiving Day to feast and watch football or whatever it is you do on Thanksgiving. When the festivities over, how much real thanksgiving will have been involved? What does it mean to give thanks? When we give thanks, to whom is our thanks given?

I frequently hear newscasters, celebrity talk show hosts, and many others talk about the Thanksgiving meal with an occasion reference to being thankful, but rarely do I hear any reference about where our thanks is to be directed. When someone says they’re ‘thankful’, to whom are they thankful? Are they thankful to the turkey farmers for the turkeys they raise? Should we be thankful to the producers and manufacturers for providing us with all the various foods and decorations that adorn our dining room tables for this day of feasting? When we declare our thankfulness for friends and family, is there someone in particular to whom we say ‘thank you’, or are we just saying words with no particular object of our gratitude in mind? Does anyone really know why we have a national Day of Thanksgiving in the first place? What is the purpose behind this national holiday?

For some answers, we need to go back to the beginning—to the first Thanksgiving in America. It was celebrated in 1621 after Squanto and several Wampanoag Indians helped the Pilgrims reap a bountiful harvest following their first winter in this new land, a winter that cost them many lives. They declared three days of feasting, play and prayer with their Indian friends to thank God for his goodness.

More than 160 years later, the American Revolution was over and a government had been finally established for the newly formed United States of America. As the nation’s first President, George Washington issued the first federal Thanksgiving proclamation. Here’s an excerpt from that proclamation written by President Washington:

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor…Now, therefore, I do appoint Thursday, the 26th day of November 1789…that we may all unite to render unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection.

In 1863 during some of the darkest days of the Civil War, President Lincoln set aside the last Thursday of November as a national Thanksgiving Day. In spite of the terrible tragedies of the Civil War, President Lincoln wrote these words calling Americans to remember the good things God had given them:

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the Source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God… No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, Who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

Our forefathers gave us Thanksgiving so that we would not forget to whom our thanks was due. Thanksgiving a perfect time for telling the next generations of all the goodness of God, and that it is to Him, and Him alone, that we give our thanks and owe our devotion.

May this Thanksgiving Day be filled with feasting with family and friends. More importantly, may it be a day of true thanksgiving in which you declare your gratitude for the “gracious gifts of the Most High God, Who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.” Feast and play, but above all, be thankful and tell the next generations of God’s goodness and mercy.

GRANDPAUSE: Thanksgiving is nothing if not a glad and reverent lifting of the heart to God in honor and praise for His goodness. -Robert Casper Lintner